A CHOP-HOUSE.
DateOctober 15, 1781
After work by
Henry William Bunbury
1750 - 1811
Publisher
William Dickinson
OriginEngland, London
MediumStippled engraving with etching
DimensionsOH: 12 3/4" x OW: 14 3/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1951-431
DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "A CHOP-HOUSE./ H. Bunbury Esq.r delin.t/ W. Dickinson Excudit/ LONDON, Publish'd Oct.r 15.th, by W. Dickinson N.o 158 New Bond Street"Label TextThe interior of the chop-house is shown. At a small square table an elderly man with a bushy wig sits facing a younger man. The older man is identified on the British Museum copy as Dr. Samuel Johnson, much caricatured. His vis-a-vis is evidently supposed to be James Boswell. The Johnson figure is intent on his plate; Boswell rests his elbows on the table, holding knife and fork up, as he peers at Johnson. A cutlet bone protrudes from his mouth. Two dogs looks up at the table with great expectations. A waiter brings in another dish from a back area. At another table, a man not yet served sits reading a newspaper. Behind him, a man in back-view stands looking at himself in an oval wall-mirror.ProvenanceBefore 1951, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1951-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).
